Former Aide Says He Can Detail Noriega's Corruption

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

Published: January 26, 1988

A former top adviser to the Panamanian military ruler, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, said yesterday that he would provide details on the general's involvement in drug and arms smuggling, corruption and money laundering, unless the general removed himself from politics.

The former adviser, Jose I. Blandon, who was the Panamanian Consul General in New York until being dismissed by General Noriega several days ago, said he had ''a lot of evidence'' to confirm allegations by a former high-ranking military officer last year that General Noriega was directly linked to the decapitation of a leading critic of the army, Dr. Hugo Spadafora, in 1985.

''I have a lot of information about Noriega, probably more information on his arms trafficking, drug trafficking and the internal problems of the Defense Forces than anyone else,'' Mr. Blandon said in an interview in New York. ''I don't want to be forced to use it. But if there is not any political solution, I will use it.''

Mr. Blandon declined to give precise details of the extent of General Noriega's involvement in illegal activities, because he has been subpoenaed by a Federal grand jury in Miami to testify about them this week. The grand jury is investigating whether General Noriega has been involved in money laundering and providing protection to cocaine traffickers. Longtime Service to Regime

Mr. Blandon has worked as a civilian adviser to the Panama Defense Forces, the military force that dominates politics, for 16 years. For more than a decade, he has been a close political adviser to General Noriega and traveled extensively with the general abroad when he was the head of the intelligence services. Mr. Blandon still holds a leading position in the Government-allied Democratic Revolutionary Party, the sole important civilian group that still supports the general.

In dismissing Mr. Blandon, General Noriega charged he had acted without authorization in drafting a plan to move the military-backed Government toward democracy. But a cable dated Dec. 9, which Mr. Blandon said he had received from General Noriega, clearly indicates preliminary approval of the plan.

''I recommend that you be careful, cautious, conceptual in setting forth the issues,'' the cable said. Order to Draw Up Plan

The cable advised Mr. Blandon that ''the document, the discussion, must be kept under your strict control, so that it does not appear as a formula of understanding on the part of the Government.'' The general said he did not want to give his political enemies the impression that Panama's situation was similar to the ''Japanese empire in World War II, signing its capitulation on the decks of the Missouri.''

The cable described Mr. Blandon's plan as ''valuable, well ordered,'' adding that when ''we develop or create other points, I will send them to you.''

According to Mr. Blandon, General Noriega told him last August to draw up a plan that would allow him to leave politics, give him the right to stay in Panama and avoid trials for him and his associates. He also wanted ''some guarantees'' from the Reagan Administration that he would not face prosecution in an American court.

When Mr. Blandon drew up a preliminary draft in September, he said, General Noriega told him to contact key people in the Reagan Administration, Congress and the Panamanian opposition. Late last month, after leaders of the Defense Forces had seen an incomplete version of the plan and protested to General Noriega, the Panamanian leader telephoned Mr. Blandon and denounced the plan. 'You Have a Lot of Problems'

''It's a generous plan, because it says we're going to forgive him, and it's the best deal he's going to get,'' said Mr. Blandon, who added that he planned to return to Panama soon. Mr. Blandon acknowledged that he might be putting himself in some personal danger if he challenged General Noriega directly or made public his allegations.

Mr. Blandon said he had documents and notes that would help prove the involvement of General Noriega and his top associates in illegal activities.

According to Gabriel Lewis Galindo, a former Panamanian ambassador to Washington and opposition leader, Mr. Blandon knows more about General Noriega's activities than most military leaders. That would include Col. Roberto Diaz Herrera, the renegade officer who touched off political protests last summer in Panama with charges against General Noriega and who is now in custody.

Last week, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, wrote a letter to Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d to request protection for Mr. Blandon after he had told the Senator he knew about General Noriega's involvement in drugs and arms trafficking. A Justice Department spokesman said the department would not discuss the case.

Mr. Blandon's status is unclear. Despite his dismissal, he is working in the Consul General's office until his successor arrives next week, he said. During the interview, he received a call from the civilian President, Eric Arturo Delvalle, who installed him as Consul General at the end of 1986 during a Cabinet reshuffle.

Mr. Blandon said that he had not been forced out of the party and that last week General Noriega secretly sent a group of party leaders to Miami to tell him that General Noriega wanted him to return to Panama immediately. Mr. Blandon said he did not know whether General Noriega would step aside or fight.